


Not So Graceful

by kyoselflove



Category: Jrock, MEJIBRAY
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Awkwardness, Cliche, Clumsiness, Comedy, Drama, Drug Use, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-05 00:44:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5354444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyoselflove/pseuds/kyoselflove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Expecting the worst for being a new student, Koichi is surprised to find himself getting between two different boys (not literally).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying to write again, because damn...blame MEJIBRAY.

Each step closer to the school brought on more dread throughout him. It was that time of year again, this time the only difference being a new setting and fresh faces. But he was sure that the outcome would become the same as last year. Forced smiles, a whole charade just to keep up a front. Apparently, everyone felt the need to be boring and ordinary. And when he walked into the room people became appalled. Despite his friendly nature, his bright pink hair and piercings (even though they were currently filled with retainers) seemed to seal the deal that he was no good.

“Here we go,” he mumbled to himself, trudging up the steps to the school’s entrance.

He was a decent student, not overly smart but not struggling either. The blatant stares in the hallway towards his classroom were enough for him to wish he had brought along his Monokuma plushie. But of course that would only cause him more ridicule. Seeing the sign for 3-B, he stopped and took a moment to peer inside the classroom. The girls kept to themselves mostly, apart for a few who shared hushed conversations. The boys on the other hand were loud, full of boisterous laughter and tossing around various things. He sighed, not really wanting to be apart of anything. There was an open seat near the back next to the window, the perfect spot for him.

Hurrying over to the open spot, he placed his bag on the back of the chair and sat down. He was hoping to have the whole table to himself but another student came in and sank down right next to him. The boy had dyed light brown hair, pierced hoops in his nose and eyebrow. He wondered how he could possibly keep them in during school hours. Once the boy looked in his direction he quickly looked away, not wanting any confrontation.

“You must be new,” a bored voice from his new companion said. He took the chance, gazing back at his classmate he couldn’t place his expression beyond the fact that he did not want to be here, maybe as much as himself.

“I’m Koichi,” he started.

“Great,” was the response he got, cutting him off short. No name, no nice to meet you. Koichi could only sigh and bring his attention back to his empty notebook. Class couldn’t start soon enough.

 

*

Genuinely surprised at the lack of interest in making his life hell, Koichi felt like he could finally relax nearing the end of the school day. One of the vocational classes he chose was home economics. Sports were no good for him and he didn’t find anything more interesting than sewing. It was something that he was passionate about and hoped he could design his own clothing line someday. Of course when he entered the home economics classroom he was in a room full of girls. But he didn’t mind it and he hoped that they wouldn’t either. He already got a raised eyebrow when he signed up for the class.

Sitting down at his station he avoided everyone’s eyes on him. Their teacher gave an introduction to the class and then quickly went ahead to give out their first assignment. Koichi took note of the sewing machine he was supplied, at home he had a much better one but he could work with almost anything.

The first project they had was due in two weeks, they had to make a simple shirt. But Koichi was already imagining something bigger, there was no such thing as simple with him. He always went big and bold. In love with bright colors and odd fashions that he would dare say no one else would want to wear, he knew it would be perfect. After loading the bobbin and threading his machine, he was ready to make a dream idea in his mind a reality.

The sound of the sewing machine brought him into a calming sense, so familiar. He just let go and let his fingers do their thing.

 

*

 

Back in 3-B, Koichi sat at his desk eating his instant noodles. Looking to his right, he noticed that his classmate he had sort-of-kind-of met was nowhere in sight. Maybe he was too cool to eat with everyone else, he thought to himself. Putting his chopsticks down, he took out his notebook and pencil. Another idea had suddenly struck him. Outlining a slender figure quickly, then adding a long flowing skirt on the paper, he began to bring his creation to life. This always happened, he had filled countless books with his ideas and drawings. Only a few he had ever made. The main problem being that he could never afford or find the fabric he needed to make them.

Staring at his design, Koichi smiled, trailing his fingers over the graphite. “That looks interesting,” startled, Koichi whipped his head to look behind him and there he was, staring at his design which consisted of a long skirt chock full of various plushies. In one swift movement, he hid his notebook, clutching it to his chest. “Didn’t mean that as a bad thing,” the boy chuckled and plopped down in his chair.

A waft of cigarette smell came over him, so he figured that the boy had snuck off somewhere to smoke during most of lunch. The scent tingled his nose, he sniffled and smiled, “Thanks,” he suddenly felt uncomfortable at the gaze the boy was giving him, “what’s your name?” He had to know.

“Tsuzuku,” there was a smirk on his face but his eyes were friendly, hair a mess. Almost cute. Okay, totally cute.

Koichi looked down, still with a small smile on his lips, he pushed up his glasses as they slid down his nose. Maybe Tsuzuku wasn’t so bad afterall.

 

*

The school’s gates were only a few meters away, once he passed them he could put this whole day behind him. Even though it had gone better than expected. And for some reason, he couldn’t stop thinking about Tsuzuku. For once his mind was completely focused on something other than designs, and it kind of scared him a little.

Pass the gate, down the stairs, concentrate. 

Unfortunately, like always, things weren’t so simple for Koichi. In his quick steps to leave the school behind him, he somehow made the wrong step and lost his footing. Taking a tumble down about ten concrete stairs was not the most fun he had ever had. He whimpered when his battered body finally halted at the end of the stairs. Raising himself up on shaky arms, he ignored the giggles from passing by students and reached for his glasses that had flown off. Thankfully they weren’t broken.

Then suddenly, a hand appeared in front of him, his eyes traveled from the hand, up the arm, to finally see a face. Half-expecting--hoping--for Tsuzuku, he was mildly disappointed when it was someone else entirely. An unfamiliar yet ethereal face above him, “Are you alright?”

Koichi nodded, taking the hand out of kindness, no matter how embarrassing it was to be doing so. He stood, brushing off the dirt and leaves that had stuck to his uniform.

“That was quite the fall you took, you sure you don’t need to see the nurse?” sharp blue eyes never left his own, Koichi’s heart fluttered at the moment that he probably imagined. He made a mental note to someday compliment the stranger on his excellent choice of contacts.

“Fine! I’d rather not go back in there today,” he said probably way too fast.

“That bad huh? I’m MiA, by the way.”

Well, it could have been worse, but Koichi decided to not go into his pathetic whining about his school life, so he just shrugged. “Koichi, thanks.”

MiA nodded at him, his lips curled into a satisfied smirk, his smile...it was hard to describe. But it gave Koichi chills. MiA straightened, and it was made clear to him that the boy was prim and proper, just the way he held himself told him so. Another boy behind MiA, snickered, cocking his head up towards the school, “Look, left over trash coming this way.” Everyone’s reaction was to look towards the indicated direction, Koichi felt himself frown when he saw none other than Tsuzuku.

All of his admiration for MiA almost completely dissipated when he heard what he said next, “Wow Tsu, do you even try anymore?”

Koichi took in Tsuzuku’s appearance, a bruise had somehow ended up on his cheek since the last time he saw him. And not only that, his already unkept uniform was torn, his tie missing, and his bag was left dragging behind him. He wanted to ask Tsuzuku if he was okay, what had happened, but held his tongue.

Tsuzuku’s eyes were on him, the right of his mouth twitching to smile, disregarding MiA and his posse completely, “Saw that graceful dance you did there.”

“Still an asshole I see,” MiA mumbled, glaring at Tsuzuku then looked at him.

Suddenly, Koichi felt way too much attention on himself. He felt like he should say something once again, but nothing came out.

“Fuck off, Prince,” Tsuzuku bit off before he hopped down the stairs and made his way down the street without another word.

“Tch,” he heard MiA, he turned to look at him as Tsuzuku’s figure vanished in the distance, “I heard he’s in your class, that’s a shame.”

“I-” he started.

“I’ll see you around, Koichi, nice meeting you,” MiA smiled at him again, the smile he could now categorize with nothing but arrogance. And yet, he still couldn’t find it in himself to look away, so he nodded and thanked MiA again.

Everyone dispersed and Koichi was left to walk home alone. Now his mind filled with nothing but both Tsuzuku and MiA.

 

*

At home it didn’t get any better. As soon as he saw his bed, he had practically face planted into it and let a muffled groan into his pillow. He didn’t know why he had let the two boys get to him so bad. Never before had he shown any interest in anybody before. But now...he wasn’t sure what to do.

Tsuzuku had a mysterious, bad boy thing going on that made Koichi feel inclined to know more about him. At first he thought he was an asshole, but it didn’t seem to be the case. It almost seemed like Tsuzuku had cared a little bit about their short interactions. Or maybe he was imagining it.

MiA obviously, he was beautiful and he knew it. Clearly a part of a clique of assholes and yet here Koichi was daydreaming about him anyways. Though he was rude to Tsuzuku, he had been nice to him. Maybe the two had some kind of history. Relationship gone bad?

Okay, now that was just wishful thinking. Both of them were good looking and probably had slept with half of the female population at school.

Koichi groaned again and grabbed his plushie.

He supposed this was all a part of growing up, he started late is all. They were just pointless crushes, it happens. They would go away in time and then he could focus on his career. All he needed was a few weeks and it would all blow over. No more distractions.

Clutching Monokuma closer to his body, he sighed. But for tonight maybe he would have a little fantasy about Tsuzuku and MiA fighting over him. Koichi giggled, then felt his cheeks heating up in embarrassment, as if someone was in the room and knew what he was thinking. He went to rest on his back and winced, a reminder of his ‘graceful dance’ from earlier.

Even so, as he drifted off to sleep, he couldn’t keep the dumb smile off his face.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Koichi was saddened to find out that Tsuzuku decided not to show up in class that morning. He idly played with his pencil while his other hand held up his face, missing the wonderful conversations they usually had, hah. Not that moping ever got him anywhere, and there was still hope he would see MiA later.

Second day of school and he had it bad. He supposed it was inevitable, considering these were his first crushes. Well, real crushes, because celebrities don’t count. 

Right now, he currently sat through a lecture in Japanese History, as much as he loved hearing about all of societies mess ups in the past, it was becoming hard to focus on the lecture. The door to the classroom slid open all the sudden, Koichi directed his eyes towards it. He felt his stomach flutter as Tsuzuku walked in, the shiner around his eye looking a hundred times worse. It was a mixture of dark purple and an awful yellow color. It was painful to look at, he couldn’t imagine how it felt.

“It’s nice of you to join us,” their teacher remarked, students giggled and Koichi rolled his eyes.

Tsuzuku shrugged, making his way over to him, Koichi quickly moved his junk away from Tsuzuku’s spot before he sat down. “Hey.”

Stunned that Tsuzuku was giving him all his attention, he let out a soft ‘hi’.

“How’s your ass?”

Koichi could feel his face heat up at the comment, totally taking it the wrong way. Again, too shocked to say anything. He was really good at this whole communicating with crushes thing.

“Ya know, from your fall yesterday?” Tsuzuku gestured towards the window, Koichi looked outside and saw the gates and stairs that had cursed him.

“Oh! Fine...I’m fine…”

Nothing more came from Tsuzuku except a grunt. For some reason, he expected him to say something about MiA but he had been proven wrong. Time to say something, anything, “Did that hurt?” he rose his fingers to touch the bruise on Tsuzuku’s cheek but pulled away. Of course it hurt, why was he so incapable of holding a conversation? 

He heard Tsuzuku laugh, he let his eyes wander back to him, “Maybe.”

And that is when he saw it. Tsuzuku licked his lips and he was stunned once again into stupidity when he saw that his tongue was split. He gulped, wondering briefly if it was loud enough for Tsuzuku to hear.

The teacher cleared his throat and Koichi saw him staring at the two of them. He sunk into his chair a bit as the class glared at him, maybe he would wait until lunch to question Tsuzuku any further.

 

*

Again during lunch there was no sign of Tsuzuku. After asking around, he found out that the students that liked to smoke went up to the rooftop, since have it be, the teachers were far too lazy to go up there and do anything about it. Quite carefully, Koichi made his way up the four stories of stairs before he finally reached the rooftop door. 

Opening the door he was greeted to the sound of laughter. Peeking around, he found Tsuzuku and another student standing near the edge of the roof, sharing a cigarette. The other student seemed just as rough as Tsuzuku. His hair dyed green, plenty of piercings adorned his face and ears, the uniform he wore was untucked and carelessly put on.

The door slammed shut behind him, making him jump and then two pairs of eyes were on him.

“Ah, Koichi,” Tsuzuku smirked, fingers raised and beckoned him closer. As if they were magic and an imaginary force pulled him towards them, Koichi went.

Fidgeting under the scrutiny, Koichi bit his lip and then rolled his tongue piercings around in his mouth, “Hey.”

“Meto, Koichi. Koichi, Meto,” Tsuzuku directed his cigarette between the two.

Meto nodded and Koichi waved at him.

“You come here for a smoke?”

“Uh, no. Actually I was looking for you…”

A creepy smile crept up on Meto’s face, Koichi looked away from him, frowning. Without a word, Meto left the two of them alone, leaving the roof completely.

“What’s up?” Tsuzuku took a drag of his cigarette and Koichi felt mesmerised at how his lips curled around the filter. He wanted to know how they felt against his own. Well, they didn’t look particularly soft, actually they were really chapped. So he came to the conclusion that kissing Tsuzuku wouldn’t be that dreamy after all. But damn, he still wanted to do it. “Oi!”

“I-I just wanted to, um, you know...hang out,” Koichi said lamely.

“Alright, let’s go,” Tsuzuku pushed off the wall and head towards the door, leaving Koichi slightly confused.

“Go where?”

“My house.”

“But school…”

“Are you coming or not?” Flicking his cigarette to the ground, Tsuzuku had already started to go back inside, so Koichi ran to catch up. Second day of school and already skipping? No big deal, right? Surely his father wouldn’t find out about it. He at least hoped.

 

*

 

Either Tsuzuku had no home or decided it would be better to stall on the actual, ‘hanging out at his house thing’. An hour had already passed and Koichi found himself at the mall inside an arcade, watching as Tsuzuku played his fill of games. Koichi tried to play one alongside him but failed miserably and decided it would be best not to humiliate himself again.

“What are we doing?” Koichi plopped down on a chair while Tsuzuku played whatever.

“You mean what are you doing? I’m obviously having fun while you’re mopping around and not partaking said fun.”

“I’m not good at these racing games, can’t we find one where I can kill you with teddy bears or something?” Koichi mumbled, resting his head on his hand, watching the game on the screen with a bored expression.

Tsuzuku turned his head very slowly to gaze at him, eyebrow raised, “Kill me with teddy bears?”

“Yeah, that would be cute,” he couldn’t help but smile.

His smile was returned, “And here I thought I was the weird one.”

“You are,” Koichi said in a monotone voice. 

He heard Tsuzuku laugh and then get up, “Alright, bambi. Let’s go.”

“Bambi?”

“Yeah you know, cause you can’t seem to stand for very long,” another chuckle and Koichi blushed, feeling the embarrassment of yesterday all over again. But this also meant that Tsuzuku cared enough to give him a nickname. A flicker of hope flared through his chest, and he could feel his face heating more in response. 

“Real cute,” Koichi said dripping in sarcasm. 

“Uh huh, very fitting for you,” the smirk that Tsuzuku had made Koichi shift his stance. Did he just indirectly call him cute? “Here, check this one out.”

They stopped in front of an arcade cabinet, this game looked relatively old, with an abundance of pixels, but it didn’t bother him. It seemed to be a two player game where the players shot things. Good enough for him. While he stared at the player selection screen, he read all their attributes carefully, wanting to choose the right one for him.

Tsuzuku chuckled beside him and pointed at the screen, “This one,” the one his finger graced was named ‘Fwank’ and his weapon of choice just so happen to be...explosive teddy bears.

“You are kidding me,” he couldn’t believe it himself, but he laughed and snuck a glance at Tsuzuku’s happy face before clicking the action button and waiting for their game to load up.

In the end, they made it up to six levels before calling it quits. Koichi stood tall with a smile lingering on his face, his accomplishment: not dying once!

“Get what you want and then you aren’t that bad,” his friend murmured as they left the mall, Koichi still didn’t know where they were headed but it didn’t seem to matter.

“I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be an insult or not,” Koichi let his gaze drift down, feeling unsettled yet again. He looked at Tsuzuku’s hand, noticing the ink that traveled up his sleeve, hidden away, and how his veins seemed to pop. So badly, he wanted to hold it and see how it felt in his own small hand. 

Jolting upright, Koichi turned towards Tsuzuku shocked as the other put an arm around his shoulders and drawing him in closer, “A total compliment, relax.”

The suggestive look in Tsuzuku’s eyes had his stomach rolling, maybe they were headed to his house after all. But now Koichi didn’t know if he really wanted to go there...and be alone with him. Sure, all he could think about was the boy for the past few days but now that everything seemed to be actually happening, his mind had gone into ultra freak out mode.

Tsuzuku had an aura of doing everything and had already done everything, and maybe even a few kinks that Koichi didn’t probably know that existed. And here he was, a meek virgin begging for attention and we he finally received it, had to chicken out.

“I should get home, my dad is probably wondering where I am,” Koichi tried.

“I’d assume that he thinks you’re still at school, since you know...that’s where we’re supposed to be,” another chuckle and the arm around him clutched him tighter. Being pressed up against Tsuzuku’s warm body had him heating up, and he could tell that he was indeed blushing. Again.

 

*

 

He let out a dreamy sigh as they continued their walk in mostly silence and the scent of Tsuzuku’s cigarettes, the unease he once felt leaving him almost completely. They stopped at a gate, behind it sat a tiny house, once they were actually moving inside, Koichi felt his heart picking up its pace.

“Come on,” Tsuzuku let him go and jumped up the stairs, he followed behind taking the steps one at a time, now would not be a good time to fall on his ass.

His bedroom had to be at least half the size of his own, only a futon to sleep on with a small tv and gaming console, clothes everywhere on the floor and a sliding door that he assumed led to the closet that was probably packed full. Koichi tried to avoid the strewn about items on the floor as if they were land mines. Making it across the room, he plopped down on the futon while Tsuzuku rummaged around his room.

“So...now what?” he felt the need to talk so it would lessen the heartbeats ringing in his ears.

Tsuzuku closed a drawer underneath the stand the television sat on, then hopped over Koichi to lie down. “I don’t know about you but I would like a good buzz going on right about now.”

Sensing Tsuzuku’s eyes on his back, Koichi lied down next to him and tried to catch a glimpse of what resided in his hands. A small bowl and a lighter, obviously some kind of drug. Koichi had started to worry about not making some kind of excuse for not coming over had screwed him over. He didn’t do drugs, his father would kill him and he was already regretting skipping school.

Tsuzuku lifted the paraphernalia to his mouth and lit the bowl, then exhaled the smoke. He couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose as the smoke hit his senses, it didn’t smell particularly good. The bowl was passed to him, and he had to decline.

“Um, no thanks,” he was becoming a nervous and confused mess.

Expecting maybe some peer pressure or something, he was already making excuses and explanations in his head, but Tsuzuku just shrugged and then took another hit. “Alright.”

After a few more, Tsuzuku seemed content enough to set it down. Maybe it was the contact of being so close to the smoke of the drug, but Koichi had started to feel a bit light headed. So much so that he didn’t even know that Tsuzuku had become so close until it was too late. Feeling his lips amongst his own, Koichi squirmed on the futon. His stomach felt like it was exploding and his hands were shaking.

Tsuzuku moved even closer, hovering over half of his body, and it didn’t take long for Koichi to realize how excited his friend seemed to be because of him. But instead of being flattered, he started to freak out all over again. The feel of Tsuzuku’s lips were rough and sloppy, but nonetheless this was his first kiss and he wasn’t even ready for that.

So he did the only thing he could think of, pushing Tsuzuku away and then slapping him on the face.

The look on Tsuzuku’s face were pretty much along the lines, of what the fuck? But before anything else could happen, Koichi bolted out of the room and down the stairs (tripping on the last one but gracefully did not faceplant). As he ran towards any direction, he could only hope that when he got home, his dad knew of nothing and he could just bury himself in his bed of plushies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That game is real and it's from my childhood haha, PS1 game called Loaded. Good times.

**Author's Note:**

> First, I have no idea.  
> Second, I wrote MiA like that instead of Mia, even though it bothers the fuck out of me.  
> Third, does anyone give a fuck about this fic?  
> Fourth, this is why this was written:  
> 


End file.
